What are my rights when it comes to cleaning up the units for a showing and open house? Can I paint? Bring in cleaners? Is there anything I can do about the extreme clutter? Can I ask the tenants to leave while the open house is going on?

The link below is to our Fact Sheet on Selling a Rental Property which is found on our website. It should provide some clarification on the rules surrounding the sale of the property and entering the unit for showings. https://landlordselfhelp.com/media/RTA-Selling-a-Rental-Property-REV2021.pdf. If the units are messy and cluttered, you can try asking the tenants to clean and clear the units of the clutter. There is no real way to enforce this, and unless they agree that you can help in cleaning up, you cannot do it yourself or hire someone to do it. If there are certain repairs to be done you’re allowed to enter to do the repairs as long as you give 24 hours written notice whenever you need to enter to do the work. You must specify the time of entry which can be between 8:00 am and 8:00 pm. With regards to holding an open house, the law does not make any specific reference to this; it only refers to individual showings. This is something that you would have to discuss with your tenants and ask for their co-operation, but you must still provide them with proper 24 hour written notice for any showings, and it is their choice whether they want to be present or not, you cannot insist that they leave.

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